Last to Live
by Kye Above
Summary: Matt ended up surviving, but Mello still unfortunately died. And after Mello's funeral, Matt visits another grave. A grave of someone else who died taking down Kira. "He tried and he succeeded, but in the end he failed"


**I decided that since my writing skills have improved within the last year, I would start rewriting some of my old stories. I'm much prouder of this story now.**

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Matt was lucky to be alive, and he knew that fact very well. He could have been shot, died and not given a second thought, but instead he had been locked up and then forgotten. He was only there for a short time compared to what he could have spent behind unforgiving bars, but he would be forever traumatized by what he saw and experienced there. Luckily, Near made sure that he would be released, but Matt had to wait until after Kira had been killed before he could see daylight once again. According to the one sent to get him out, Halle Linder, Near had decided it was safer for him to be in prison.

Mello had died though, and Matt knew that the blond had wanted that from the start. All that was left of his best friend were ashes. Now those ashes were buried in the Wammy's House Graveyard. It had disturbed him greatly when he found out Wammy's House had its own graveyard, but it eventually did make sense, as sometimes it was the only place the dead orphans could go, as some of them never found a family to bury the. Now, minutes after the funeral ended, Matt was standing in front of Mello's freshly dug grave, reading the message that had been carved on the stone. And the name that Mello died desperately to hide.

___Mihael Keehl_

___"Mello"_

___A bigger hero than anyone else could ever be._

Matt knew that Mello would not have liked it at all, and would have wanted something more meaningful, but Matt thought it was perfect. Mello was a hero, even though he did horrible things to become one. He respected every choice Mello made. And he thought Mello's real name made sense for him to have. Almost all Wammy's Kids nicknames had some connection to their real names. If repeated enough, Mihael sounded a lot like Mello.

He also knew that Mello would not have liked all the flowers that people had left for him. Mello would have wanted chocolate, or at least something less girly. Matt had even told everyone that, but no one listened. He knew that most of the flowers were brought in jest, as well as mockery, since Mello hadn't been the most well liked when they had been at Wammy's House. Matt was the only who brought a bar of chocolate, as he was the only one of their peers who still respected Mello after everything. He placed it in front of the gravestone and hoped that it would not be stolen, because Mello would probably curse the thief's soul if it was taken.

He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. There was another grave that he needed to visit. The funeral had been yesterday, but he had not gone, though he still didn't know why. The other dead boy had been his friend too, once upon a time. It seemed more than just six years since he and the other dead boy were laughing together at Mello's expense; much more than six years since the other dead boy stopped laughing.

"I'll come back again Mello, but there is something that I need to do"

The grave was one the other side of the burial ground, though he was not sure of the exact location, so he had a long walk. That walk was spent in silence, and in avoidance of the other graves. He kept on seeing names he recognized. _Alchemy_ _Lill – Alternative – Lost a fighting battle. Beyond Birthday – Backup – Went great lengths to reach his goals. _There were others, and he only realized then how many people he knew or knew of had died. And now he had lost two of his best friends.

When he finally found the grave he was looking for, with a grim look on his face, he took note of how their was only a single rose placed in the dirt. Most likely, very few people went the funeral compared to Mello's, which had taken place before Mello's own only because that would have been what Mello wanted. He knew all their old friends had gone, since they had belittled him for not going himself, but other than maybe some of the people he met after he left Wammy's House, not many would have taken the time to go, since he hadn't been as hated, and not worthy of mockery as Mello. That was mostly why the former children of Wammy's House would bother to go to funerals of people they hadn't seen in years. To mock them.

Matt looked over the inscription on the stone, and couldn't help but think that it wasn't the right thing to say about the dead boy. It was a bit disrespectful, and he wondered who had come up with it in the first place. It held his failures over his accomplishments, which were much greater than his mess-ups. Matt felt like screaming to the world that if Mello was a hero, so was the boy whose grave he stood in front of.

___Nate River_

___"Near"_

___He tried and he succeeded, but in the end he failed._

Near had exposed Kira and proved it to everyone around him, something even the original L had not been able to do before death. But quite like the original, Near had been killed after all his efforts, and it wasn't even a merciful heart attack. Light Yagami had gotten hold of a gun, and Near was an easy target. It would have been better if Near died instantly, but he hadn't, and there had been nothing that anyone could do for him. At least Kira had been killed as well, and Matt was proud to say that he had shaken hands with the man who pulled the trigger, so both Mello and Near could rest in peace.

Deciding that he was obsessing over the inscription a little too much, he turned his full attention onto Near's real name. It was strange, and stood out to him. It was more perfect than any other name he had came across in his life.

"Nate River, what an unusual name, for an unusual boy."

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******Because in a sea of names like Mail Jeevas, Mihael Keehl, L Lawliet and Light Yagami, Nate River is an unusual name.**


End file.
